The Perfect Present
by Hallow Sisters On My Mind
Summary: Mildred helps Ethel with a gift for Esmerelda with leads to the two girls having a heart to heart. WW 2017. Oneshot.


A/N: Cute little idea I got about Esmerelda's birthday, I really like the stories where Mildred and Ethel are friendly so this happened, I hope you all enjoy. I do not own the worst witch or the characters.

* * *

 **The Perfect Present**

Mildred Hubble rushed over to the place under the stairs where her year group normally sat and started lifting up pillows in a panic. The only person who was currently sat there was Ethel Hallow who seemed to be lost in concentration writing something.

"Ethel can you move for a second please?" Mildred asked her politely needing to look where she was sitting.

"I am busy" Ethel replied without looking up from the notebook she was writing in.

"Please Ethel" Mildred asked again .

"If you are looking for your drawing pad it is on the table" Ethel commented and Mildred ran to the table finding her precious drawing pad and after making sure all the drawings were still there she walked back to Ethel.

"What are you doing?" Mildred asked wondering what on earth had gotten the girls attention to the point she would not look up.

"That Mildred Hubble is none of your business" Ethel replied harshly and Mildred sighed.

"I was just asking Ethel, you seem to be struggling that is all" Mildred replied and after seeing the girl was making no acknowledgement to what she had said she shrugged preparing to leave.

"Are you any good at buying presents?" Ethel suddenly asked taking Mildred of guard but she turned back around looking at her blonde classmate.

"Well..who is it for?" Mildred asked knowing if she knew who was going to receive the gift it would be easier.

"Esmie...it is her birthday next week" Ethel replied a bit quieter than normal.

"Oh well what do you normally get her?" Mildred asked the girl.

"Books or clothes, I don't have much money" Ethel replied and Mildred realised the girl meant she did not have much money personally as after all it was her parents who were rich.

The thing was Mildred was way more stumped than even Ethel about what to get the girl, she barely knew Esmerelda properly after all and Mildred who had no siblings had no idea what to buy a teenage girl.

"Make her something" Mildred suggested thinking if the girl was struggling with money that was a good idea, she usually did that for her mother.

"I can't you don't understand, after what happened last year it needs to be perfect, I need to show her how sorry I am" Ethel replied looking at the floor as she spoke.

Mildred did not need Ethel to go into more depth, she was of course speaking about the whole thing with her tricking her sister into giving Agatha Cackle her powers, even though Mildred had seen for herself Esmerelda had forgiven her sister, Ethel clearly still felt guilty.

Mildred suddenly came up with a idea, it came to her quickly and Mildred might not know about Esmerelda but Mildred knew one thing, the girl loved her sisters so she would love the idea Mildred had.

"I have the perfect idea...a scrapbook" Mildred told her classmate happily.

"A what?" Ethel asked looking at Mildred.

"A scrapbook, you can put all your special pictures in and keep them safe" Mildred told Ethel beaming at her idea.

"But isn't that what photo albums are for?" Ethel asked clueless.

"Scrapbooks are more personal, trust me she will love it, you have pictures of you and your sisters right?" Mildred asked wondering if the girl had pictures at school with her.

"Of course" Ethel replied.

"Go get them, trust me for once" Mildred said running off as Ethel went to collect the pictures.

* * *

Half a hour later Ethel walked into Mildred's room holding a huge white album, Mildred stared at the girl shocked, she thought the girl would only have a few photos at school not a whole album.

"Great let's get started" Mildred said as Ethel opened the album. The girl felt a little sad as she was essentially losing her copies of the pictures but she had to make it up to Esmie so she took the first photo out the album and Mildred noticed she was bright red in the face.

"What is wrong?" Mildred asked Ethel wondering how the picture could be so embarrassing.

"Don't laugh" Ethel told Mildred as she handed her the photo.

Mildred gently took the picture and could not help smiling at how adorable it was. Esmerelda was about two or three and was wearing a purple top that said 'BIG SIS' on it and in her arms was what Mildred assumed was baby Ethel as she could not see a sign of any other child so it would appear Sybil had not being born yet.

"Aww you are so cute" Mildred commented finding the picture way to sweet and she was pleased to see Esmerelda looked so happy to be a big sister. Mildred glanced up seeing Ethel looking highly embarrassed at her baby picture.

"Don't be so embarrassed it is cute" Mildred told the blonde who if anything turned more red.

Before long Mildred was looking through the pictures with Ethel helping her sort them and could not help laughing her head of at one.

"Your face in this" Mildred commented. The photo was very similar to the first one she had looked at but this time for Sybil's birth, Esmerelda had a now toddler Ethel in her arms and Sybil lying over them but Ethel was glaring at her new baby sister angrily as Esmerelda once again looked thrilled.

"I was not to happy about becoming the middle child" Ethel commented truthfully.

"And yet Esmerelda just looked thrilled with both of you" Mildred laughed at how different they are.

"Yes well Esmie always wanted a sibling so when she got two she was thrilled" Ethel replied and Mildred nodded somehow understanding that.

"Yes, Esmerelda has to be a sister doesn't she?" Mildred commented knowing the older girl lived for being a sister, Mildred could not imagine the girl not growing up with at least one sibling, it suited her so well.

"Yes" Ethel replied happily as Mildred picked up another random photo and laughed again.

The photo had Esmerelda in the middle wearing her Cackles uniform and one of her sisters either side pointing at it and gasping.

"Hey she had just got the uniform we were excited" Ethel told Mildred as she saw what she was laughing at.

Mildred loved looking at the photos and realised for someone who pretended not to like Esmerelda Ethel sure looked to take photos with her and Sybil, another that caught her interest caught her eye because of what Ethel was wearing.

"That is what you wore to the entrance exam" Mildred commented recognising the outfit. Ethel looked at the photo and nodded.

"Our grandma took that just before we had to leave, as you can tell we were still in the middle of getting ready though" Ethel told Mildred commenting on the fact Esmerelda was in uniform but had her hair loose clearly still in the middle of fixing her hair. It was such a sweet picture though Ethel hugging her sister looking a little pale probably from nerves but happy but there was something missing in the picture.

"Where is Esmerelda's belt?" Mildred commented realising exactly what was missing, she knew the girl was in the middle of getting ready but if she was dressed already she thought it was a bit odd she would miss out the finishing touch.

"Oh Sybil had taken it to mess with her" Ethel replied and Mildred chuckled.

"Yes she was chasing Sybil around five minutes before she left for it" Ethel told Mildred and Mildred laughed more, when Mildred had first met the eldest girl she had been so serious and it made the darkhaired girl laugh thinking half an hour before she had been chasing her sister around her house for her belt.

There was pictures from all ages and during different times: the sisters eating ice cream, the sisters hugging on the sofa, the sisters kissing each others cheeks and being silly, the sisters lying on the floor in laughter looking like they somehow all fell on each other.

One of Mildred's favourites was of Ethel when she was about one being kissed on the cheek by Esmerelda who was holding her little sister looking so happy, it was such a perfect picture showing how much they loved each other.

There was more recent pictures too one which was dated that year looking like it was from the summer, Ethel had her arms around Esmerelda and equally the girl had her arms wrapped around her sister clearly so happy to be together.

Mildred had never thought of herself as a jealous person and she had definitely never being jealous of Ethel before, she had not thought much into Ethel having sisters because they didn't have time to interact much during school but the more pictures Mildred looked at the more she felt a pang of jealously as she watched the sisters growing through the years. Mildred was very happy with her home life she loved her mother more than anything but being a only child was quite boring in all honesty, she never really had anyone to play with as she was growing up, or laugh with or tell secrets too, it was true now she had Maud and Enid but she knew it was not the same, they had not grown up together, they had not had sleepovers and spent Christmases together, Mildred knew one day Maud and Enid might not be there anymore for whatever reason but whatever happens Ethel will have her sisters there, Mildred had never had a sibling to share her life with or who looked at her lovingly, yes for the first time Mildred was jealous of her worse enemy.

Unlike her enemy though she was not about to bully her because of her jealously so instead she carried on helping the girl stick the photos into the scrapbook.

"Hey why don't I draw a picture of the three of you for the front?" Mildred suggested wanting to distract herself.

"Okay...thanks" Ethel replied not understanding why Mildred was helping her.

"Why are you even helping?" Ethel asked not trusting Mildred and thinking she was up to something.

"Because I like your sister and want her to have a good birthday, and you really do owe her" Mildred replied opening her drawing pad and getting started on the drawing.

They finished the scrapbook that night and Ethel left with it in her arms taking it to her bedroom but stopped to talk to Mildred.

"Thanks for helping..." Ethel said highly embarrassed.

"No problem Ethel, I enjoyed it" Mildred admitted hoping the elder girl liked her present.

* * *

The next day Esmerelda was looking in her mirror just tying her belt around her waist when Ethel knocked and she told her to come in, seeing her little sisters always brightened her mood so she beamed.

"Morning Ethie" Esmerelda said to her happily.

Ethel ran up to her sister wrapping her arms around her waist "Happy Birthday Esmie" Ethel said to her. Esmerelda beamed more at that.

"Thank you Ethie" the girl smiled happy her sister had remembered.

"I actually got you something" Ethel said holding the present out. Esmerelda smiled and sat on her bed to open it.

"It really is not much so don't get to excited" Ethel said as her sister started ripping the paper off.

Esmerelda ripped the paper off and held the small purple scrapbook on the front was a drawing of her and her sisters and she started to flip through it before a few tears fell and Ethel sighed.

"You don't like it? Sorry I was going to buy you something but.." Ethel started looking at the ground.

"I love it" Esmerelda said wiping her eyes "It is the best present I have ever had, thank you Ethie" Esmerelda told her hugging and kissing her in thanks.

"Mildred helped" Ethel told her sister deciding it was best to tell her about the girls involvement.

"You and Mildred worked on something toegter and there was no deaths?" Esmerelda asked in shock.

"Well maybe...she isn't that bad..." Ethel admitted as she hugged her sister.

"I really am sorry about last year" Ethel told her with a sigh.

"I know you have told me forty three times now" Esmerelda replied as she had kept count. "It is okay honestly" Esmerelda said hugging her sister as Sybil ran in.

"Happy Birthday Esmie" Sybil said holding up a lopsided cake with white icing and her sister's name spelled out, Esmerelda took the cake hugging and kissing her little sister in thanks, loving what both her sisters had gotten her, things made with love were always so much more special.

* * *

Mildred was carrying her breakfast to a table when she heard Esmerelda calling her over, she walked over to a table where the three sisters were sat Esmerelda cuddling both her sisters.

"I wanted to say thank you for helping with the scrapbook" Esmerelda told Mildred beaming.

"Oh no problem I am glad you like it" Mildred replied smiling.

"Do you want some cake? Sybil made it" Ethel commented handing the girl a piece of cake and Mildred tucked in with a smile, it was actually pretty good.

As Esmerelda was cuddling her sisters and had no arms free Ethel fed her a bit of cake nearly stabbing her with the fork causing Sybil to laugh.

"I have a feeling I will end up in hospital with my eye poked out on my birthday" Esmerelda replied laughing as she was fed the cake.

Mildred watched that pang of jealously there again as if she had never really noticed how close they were before.

"Well it is not good to have your eye poked out at any time but especially not your birthday" Sybil replied laughing at her sisters silly comment.

"Oh there is only one piece of cake left" Ethel pointed out looking at the last tiny bit of cake on the tray and Mildred watched in fascination at the next bit of the situation which to her was odd.

Ethel and Sybil glanced at each other three times before both making a grab for the last bit of the cake at the same time. It was Sybil who grabbed it and Ethel leaned over trying to grab it off her both falling over Esmerelda in the process who screamed a little as she was nearly punched in the face but then she laughed as she took the piece of cake out of Ethel's hands and ate it herself.

"Aww no fair" Sybil whinged angrily.

"Very fair as I was the only one not fighting over it" Esmerelda laughed "Plus I deserve it for having you two basically attacking me!" Esmerelda replied jokingly.

Ethel who was practically lying on her sister kept hitting Sybil as the girls had one of their silly fights.

"Stop it now" Esmerelda told them grabbing both of their hands and rolling her eyes. "Be nice to each other" Esmerelda told them and the two youngest stuck there tongues out at each other but then sat still.

Mildred seriously thought they had forgotten she were there and felt dead awkward so when she saw Maud and Enid she was happy to have a excuse to leave.

"Thank you for the cake I am glad you liked your present Esmerelda" Mildred told the older girl with a smile "I will see you later I need to speak to Maud and Enid" the girl said rushing over to the table really trying to hide her jealously.

* * *

Later on Mildred was walking down the corridor when Ethel ran up to her.

"Mildred...I just wanted to say thank you again...my sister would not have had such a good day without you" Ethel thanked Mildred but spoke so quietly as if it was hard for her.

"Really Ethel I was really happy to help but maybe next time you can do it yourself, if you paid attention to your sisters you would know what they like yourself" Mildred said without thinking and Ethel glared at her.

"I do know what they like, but there is only so much you can get without money you know and I am not creative!" Ethel replied insulted and annoyed, she had come here to thank Mildred not to have a fight.

"Yes well you don't appreciate them, you don't deserve siblings!" Mildred replied meanly experiencing how jealously was a bad thing. She never thought she would be so mean to someone because she was jealous but in that moment she was acting like Ethel.

"I love my sisters, just because I don't leap on everyone and hug them all the time does not mean I do not love them!" Ethel shouted becoming more wound up as the conversation went on.

Mildred sighed. She had not meant to let her jealously get the better of her so she fell quiet before speaking quietly.

"Sorry..." Mildred told the girl feeling badly for having a go at her "It is just...the only family I have is my mother...I would have loved to have a sibling" Mildred told the blonde as she looked at the floor.

Ethel also felt quiet at that as she realised that Mildred of all people was jealous of her when she was the one jealous of Mildred. All this time she had being jealous of Mildred having a loving mother when Mildred was jealous of her for having sisters.

"Oh" Ethel replied not knowing what else there was to say.

"I tried to find some existence of a family member in the Cackles archives, hoping I had some family member there I didn't know about but I found nothing..and that was why I was upset about it during the founding of the hair raisers, you have no idea how lonely it is only having one family member in your life" Mildred admitted something to Ethel trying to explain why she was jealous of the girl.

"You know having sisters has downsides they...always steal your stuff and ...they ...won't stop showing you affection" Ethel told Mildred unable to think of anything that was truly terrible about it and Mildred sighed sadly again thinking that as annoying as that could sometimes be it still sounded amazing to have a sibling. Ethel was not normally someone who was good with words but in that moment she thought of something and smiled before speaking.

"You know Mildred being blood related to someone does not always mean it is a good thing, I mean look at my parents they treat me like a stranger" Ethel told Mildred causing the dark-haired girl to look up shocked Ethel had admitted that, Ethel rarely mentioned her parents after that. "What I mean is blood does not always mean family, families are all different and sometimes you can be really close to someone and not be related to them at all and they sort of start to feel like your family, the thing is Mildred there is a saying that you can't choose your family but in your case you can choose it" Ethel told Mildred who just stared at her in shock and Mildred realised the girl was hinting her friends were more or less her family, blood was not everything and Mildred smiled hugely understanding exactly what Ethel meant, She was able to do something most people couldn't: choose her family.

"Oh I really get it, thanks Ethel that makes me feel much better" Mildred told the blonde as she suddenly found herself wrapping her arms around the girl forgetting who she was. Mildred hugged her friends all the time it came naturally to her and in that moment with how happy she felt Mildred forgot it was Ethel she was talking to.

Mildred felt the girl freeze as she did this and it was then she realised she was hugging Ethel Hallow of all people and was just about to pull away when she felt Ethel put her arms around her and tapped her back gently clearly not knowing if she should hug back or do nothing. Mildred was surprised the girl had not thrown her onto the floor and cursed her though because she knew all three Hallow sisters were not the greatest with physical contact unless it was between the three of them.

After a few seconds Mildred pulled away from the most awkward hug she had ever had and smiled at her worst enemy awkwardly somehow thinking things will not be so bad any more.

"Erm I better go...I have homework" Ethel told Mildred looking at the floor embarrassed.

"Okay see you later Ethel" Mildred replied smiling slightly also kind of embarrassed, the blonde walked off slowly and Mildred smiled to herself, maybe just maybe her and Ethel would not have to try outsmart each other anymore, maybe the girl will back of a bit and best of all Mildred realised she did have a family, it was different from other peoples and may not be a blood family but it was hers and she was happy even if she would always feel slightly jealous of Ethel Hallow.


End file.
